Teach with Special Collections

Students looking at rare books

Quote: something that's so special about these resources is that it's the chance to see history with your own eyes and not through the lens of a textbook — - Samantha Duke, graduate student in John Morillo's ENG 582 Animal Studies class, spring 2019.

The Special Collections Research Center collaborates with teaching faculty to design instruction sessions that embed original special collections materials into interactive, experiential learning to support a wide range of disciplines and learning objectives. Drawing on our team’s expertise as archivists, librarians, and educators, and integrating primary sources from our diverse collecting areas, we work with course instructors to develop unique experiential learning sessions across a wide range of disciplines.

The Special Collections Research Center welcomes the opportunity to work with undergraduate and graduate classes, and we are especially glad to introduce new researchers to archives and special collections.

We can help your students:

Get excited about hands-on research using original materials
Become familiar with viewing and using primary sources
Get to know the range of materials in our Special Collections holdings
Learn about the evolution of their college or discipline at NC State

The Collaboration Process

Please note that we require at least 3 weeks' notice to fulfill a class session request, and submitting a request does not automatically reserve the time. Our team will do everything possible to meet each request, but we cannot guarantee that every request will be fulfilled.
Course instructors are required to be present for class sessions with SCRC staff, but special circumstances can be accommodated. Please indicate in the request form below whether you will be present for the session so that we can plan accordingly.
We invite course instructors to be present and actively participate in our instruction partnership during the planning process and in the classroom, from hands-on exploration to group discussion. We welcome your ideas, lesson plans, discussion questions, and specific material requests. We are happy to provide research support, assignment design support, and our own set of lesson plans, item lists, and interactive exercises.
Course instructors are encouraged to conduct research in our collections to identify specific materials that meet their needs. Our team can provide initial research support, and course instructors are welcome to conduct more in-depth research and review of materials independently in our SCRC Reading Room.
Please complete the request form below to request a class session. A member of our team will follow up to confirm your request and to schedule a planning meeting, as needed.

Request Instruction